Career Development Bridge Funding Program

The Department of Medicine invites proposals for the Career Development (K) Bridge Funding Program, which provides support to junior faculty and fellows (physician investigators - MD (MD/PhD, MD/other degrees)) during the gap between fellowship and attainment of a career development award (CDA).

It is the intent of this program to provide funding that leads to successful competition for a CDA.  

Program Requirements

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible candidates include junior faculty and fellows (physician investigators - MD (MD/PhD, MD/other degrees) whose primary appointment is in the Department of Medicine who were unsuccessful in competing for a Career Development Award (NIH K, NSF CAREER, VA CDA-1) or equivalent; e.g., K08, K23.

  • Applicants funded by a K08, K23 or equivalent, or R01 prior to the start date will not be eligible.
  • Candidates must be either junior faculty within five (5) years of completing fellowship or a fellow within the Department of Medicine.
  • Candidates must have competed unsuccessfully for a CDA within the past year to be considered eligible for funding.

Applications who were unsuccessful but received a priority score will be most competitive for bridge funding, in particular those that effectively address the comments outlined in the summary statement.

Award Information

  • Up to 3 proposals will be funded each year.
  • Awards of up to $85,000 (total direct costs) will be funded for 1 year and may be extended for an additional year at Chair’s discretion. Funds not expended during this time will be returned to the Department.
  • Funding is intended to provide partial salary support and fringe benefits along with modest project-related expenses for the awardee during the gap between fellowship and achievement of a career development award (CDA). Funds may be requested for salary support, research supplies, tuition, and other expenses.

Who May Apply

Candidates must be either junior faculty within five (5) years of completing fellowship or a fellow within the Department of Medicine.

Candidates must have competed unsuccessfully for a Career Development Award (as described previously e.g. NIH K08, K23, or equivalent) within the past year to be considered eligible for funding.

Deadlines

Applications must be submitted electronically no later than:

  • Cycle I: September 15
  • Cycle II: December 15
  • Cycle III: April 15

Application and Review Process

How to apply

  1. Download and review the full Proposal Guidelines document.
  2. Prepare the required documents and save as a single PDF file to be uploaded in the electronic submission form below. 

How your application is reviewed

  1. Review by the Vice Chair for Research to ensure the proposed project meets basic requirements for the grant.
  2. Peer review by a panel convened by the Vice Chair for Research.

Program Contact

For questions regarding these proposal guidelines, eligibility requirements, review criteria, or for other information related to this program, please contact:

Saini Pillai, MBA
Senior Program Coordinator
Department of Medicine, Chair's Office
saini.pillai@duke.edu

Submission form

Submit your application as one PDF file using the electronic submission form:

Open the submission form

Form is at https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7aonuzRZFhNRrPU

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